Bill Text: CA AB1890 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Discrimination: equal pay: state contracting.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2016-09-30 - Vetoed by Governor. [AB1890 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB1890-Enrolled.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1890 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 22, 2016
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 25, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 17, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 21, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 31, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Dodd
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta and Gonzalez)
(Coauthors: Senators Block, Hall, and Wolk)
FEBRUARY 11, 2016
An act to amend Section 12990 of the Government Code, relating to
discrimination.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1890, Dodd. Discrimination: equal pay: state contracting.
Existing law subjects an employer who is, or wishes to become, a
contractor with the state for public works, or for goods or services,
to various nondiscrimination requirements. Existing law authorizes
requiring an employer to submit a nondiscrimination program to the
Department of Fair Employment and Housing for approval and
certification prior to becoming a contractor or subcontractor with
the state, as well as requiring the provision of periodic reports of
contractor or subcontractor compliance with that program. Existing
law authorizes a contractor or subcontractor to file an affirmative
action, equal employment, or nondiscrimination program subject to
review and approval by a federal compliance agency with the
department in lieu of that nondiscrimination program.
This bill would enact the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act of 2016.
The bill would require an employer with a contract with the state
that amounts to $50,000 or more that either is required by federal
regulations to submit an EEO-1 report to the United States Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or has 100 or more employees
in the state to submit a nondiscrimination program to the department
and to submit periodic reports of its compliance with that program,
no more than annually, on a schedule to be determined by the
department. The bill would require the department to make these
programs and reports available to the Commission on the Status of
Women and Girls. The bill would authorize the department to require
approval and certification of the program. The bill would permit the
department to require other employers to comply with those program
and report submission requirements. The bill would require the
department to define an employee for these purposes. The bill would
require the nondiscrimination program to include policies and
procedures designed to ensure equal employment opportunities for all
applicants and employees, a description of employment selection
procedures, and employee compensation data, as specified. The bill
would specify that a contractor or subcontractor may submit an EEO-1
report subject to review by the EEOC with the department in lieu of
the nondiscrimination program. The bill would specify that its
provisions are not to be construed to negate certain exemptions
established by regulation that predate its enactment or to require
the department to reevaluate the validity of these exemptions, as
specified. The bill would make a statement of legislative findings.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Equal
Pay for Equal Work Act of 2016.
SEC. 2. (a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(1) According to data from the United States Census Bureau,
full-time working women, on average, over the last decade, have
continued to earn just $0.79 for every dollar a man earns. The wage
gap is greater for women of color, with African American women being
paid an average of $0.60 for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic
men in 2015 and Latinas being paid just $0.55 for every dollar paid
to white, non-Hispanic men in the same year.
(2) This wage disparity amounted to a yearly average wage gap of
$10,762 in 2015 between full-time working men and full-time working
women. In total, the disparity represents more than $490 billion in
lost wages for working women every year.
(3) Disparities in pay for women have numerous negative impacts.
This pay differential shortchanges women and their families by
thousands of dollars a year and potentially hundreds of thousands of
dollars over a lifetime. Nearly 4 in 10 mothers are primary
breadwinners in their households, and nearly two-thirds are
significant earners, making pay equity critical to the economic
security of their families.
(4) Equal pay for equal work is a fundamental precept in our
nation and in California. Federal law, including the federal Equal
Pay Act of 1963 (Public Law 88-38), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964 (Public Law 88-352), and Executive Order 11246 of September
24, 1965, entitled Equal Employment Opportunity, specifically
prohibits arbitrarily compensating men and women differently for the
same work, as does California's Equal Pay Act.
(5) On August 6, 2014, the United States Department of Labor's
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs issued a notice of
proposed rulemaking to require covered federal contractors and
subcontractors with more than 100 employees to submit an annual equal
pay report on employee compensation. In California, state
contractors receiving public money are obligated to comply with equal
pay laws and should provide the state with aggregate wage data to
advance pay equity.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to
promote pay equity and nondiscrimination in setting pay and making
hiring or promotional decisions, and to obtain better data on pay
equity to more wholly address the problem.
SEC. 3. Section 12990 of the Government Code is amended to read:
12990. (a) An employer that is, or wishes to become, a contractor
with the state for public works or for goods or services is subject
to the provisions of this part relating to discrimination in
employment and to the nondiscrimination requirements of this section
and any rules and regulations that implement it.
(b) (1) (A) Any employer with a contract with the state that
amounts to fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or more that either is
required by federal regulations to submit an EEO-1 report to the
United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or has 100 or
more employees in the state shall submit a nondiscrimination program
to the department and shall submit periodic reports of its compliance
with the program, no more than annually, on a schedule to be
determined by the department. The department shall make the programs
and reports available to the Commission on the Status of Women and
Girls.
(B) The department may also require an employer that is not
described in subparagraph (A) to submit a nondiscrimination program
and, if the department so requires, the employer shall comply with
the requirements for employers described in subparagraph (A).
(C) The department may require approval and certification of a
nondiscrimination program.
(D) The department shall define an employee for the purposes of
this paragraph.
(E) An employee in the construction industry covered by a valid
collective bargaining agreement that expressly provides for the
wages, hours of work, and working conditions of employees, premium
wage rates for all overtime worked, and regular hourly pay of not
less than 30 percent above the state minimum wage rate shall be
excluded from calculation of the employer's total number of employees
for purposes of this paragraph.
(2) A nondiscrimination program shall include policies and
procedures designed to ensure equal employment opportunities for all
applicants and employees, a description of employment selection
procedures, and employee compensation data, as follows:
(A) The total number of workers in a specific job category
identified by worker race or national origin, and sex.
(B) The total wages required to be reported on Internal Revenue
Service form W-2 for all workers in a specific job category
identified by worker race or national origin, and sex.
(C) The total hours worked on an annual basis for all workers in a
specific job category identified by worker race or national origin,
and sex. For purposes of this subdivision, if an employer does not
track exempt employees' hours worked, full-time exempt employees
shall be presumed to work 40 hours a week and part-time exempt
employees shall be presumed to work 20 hours a week, unless the
employer utilizes a different standard number of hours a week for
exempt employees, in which case the employer shall report total hours
worked on an annual basis by those employees based on that standard
number.
(c) Every state contract and subcontract for public works or for
goods or services shall contain a nondiscrimination clause
prohibiting discrimination on the bases enumerated in this part by
contractors or subcontractors. The nondiscrimination clause shall
contain a provision requiring contractors and subcontractors to give
written notice of their obligations under that clause to labor
organizations with which they have a collective bargaining or other
agreement. These contractual provisions shall be fully and
effectively enforced. This subdivision does not apply to a credit
card purchase of goods of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500)
or less. The total amount of exemption authorized herein shall not
exceed seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) per year for each
company from which a state agency is purchasing goods by credit
card. It shall be the responsibility of each state agency to monitor
the use of this exemption and adhere to these restrictions on these
purchases.
(d) The department shall periodically develop rules and
regulations for the application and implementation of this section,
and submit them to the council for consideration and adoption in
accordance with the provisions of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1. Those rules and regulations shall describe
and include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) Procedures for the investigation, approval, certification,
decertification, monitoring, and enforcement of nondiscrimination
programs.
(2) The size of contracts or subcontracts below which any
particular provision of this section shall not apply.
(3) The circumstances, if any, under which a contractor or
subcontractor is not subject to this section.
(4) Criteria for determining the appropriate plant, region,
division, or other unit of a contractor's or subcontractor's
operation for which a nondiscrimination program is required.
(5) Procedures for coordinating the nondiscrimination requirements
of this section and its implementing rules and regulations with the
California Plan for Equal Opportunity in Apprenticeship, with the
provisions and implementing regulations of Article 9.5 (commencing
with Section 11135) of Chapter 1 of Part 1, and with comparable
federal laws and regulations concerning nondiscrimination, equal
employment opportunity, and affirmative action by those who contract
with the United States.
(6) The basic principles and standards to guide the department in
administering and implementing this section.
(e) Where a contractor or subcontractor is required to prepare an
affirmative action, equal employment, or nondiscrimination program
subject to review and approval by a federal compliance agency,
including an EEO-1 report that is subject to review by the United
States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, that program may be
submitted with the department, instead of any nondiscrimination
program otherwise required by this section or its implementing rules
and regulations. Such a program shall constitute a prima facie
demonstration of compliance with this section. Where the department
or a federal compliance agency has required the preparation of an
affirmative action, equal employment, or nondiscrimination program
subject to review and approval by the department or a federal
compliance agency, evidence of such a program shall also constitute
prima facie compliance with an ordinance or regulation of any city,
city and county, or county that requires an employer to submit such a
program to a local awarding agency for its approval prior to
becoming a contractor or subcontractor with that agency.
(f) Where the department determines and certifies that the
provisions of this section or its implementing rules and regulations
are violated or determines a contractor or subcontractor is engaging
in practices made unlawful under this part, the department may
recommend appropriate sanctions to the awarding agency. Any such
recommendation shall take into account the severity of the violation
or violations and any other penalties, sanctions, or remedies
previously imposed.
(g) The changes to this section made by the act adding this
subdivision shall not be construed to negate an exemption to the
requirements of this section in existence on January 1, 2017, created
by the department through the exercise of its regulatory authority,
or to otherwise require the department to reinterpret the validity of
an exemption as a result of these changes.
